


Card-Sharp

by VintagexTypewriter



Category: One Piece
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-06-18 07:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15480159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VintagexTypewriter/pseuds/VintagexTypewriter
Summary: Life and death. Two sides of the same coin and, with her second chance at life, Wren was going to change the world around her for the better come Hell or high water.Self-insert.





	1. 1-Kiss the Sky (Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra)

Hello everyone, my name is Vintage Typewriter and I welcome you to my first step into the world of fanfiction.

Before you begin I would like to draw your attention to three other stories and their writers who helped inspire this story:

Tell it to the Marines by Tsume Yuki

Catch Your Breath by Lang Noi

Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen

I would recommend each and every one of you to read those stories yourself and give them the love they deserve.

Any ways, on with the show.

 

* * *

 

 

Volca was a small island situated well into the middle of the Grand Line but was rarely visited by any up and coming pirates as they tended to view it as a useless stop on their way to the New World. For those pirates that did stop however, they were usually surprised at just how big the main city was on such a small island.

The Red Force, a ship captained by the young pirate captain "Red-Haired" Shanks was one of the few captains that would voluntarily dock at the island any time it came into sight. Most would assume that the young upstart and rookie would only chose to appear at this island because of the sake a majority of the people who ever stopped at the island would claim was the best in the New World.

Those people would have assumed wrong.

Though Shanks would be the first to agree that the sake that was produced on Volca was some of the best he had ever tasted, only second best to the sake that came from his hometown in the West Blue, he had an ulterior motive for docking at this island.

Back when he had still been a cabin boy on the Oro Jackson under Captain Roger, he had gotten his first taste of not only the alcohol that the island produced but also the people who lived there.

Particularly a young pink haired girl with striking seafoam green eyes that had single handedly flipped a full grown man over her back and shoulders with one hand when it was obvious he wanted something she was not willing to give up, no matter how much she had to drink that night. And did it all without spilling her drink.

Brushing off a good bit of ribbing from his captain and Buggy, Shanks would for years deny that he had fallen in love with the pink haired woman that night - the moment she had turned to him and simply uttered "Hey, can you do me a solid" he was gone - and just spend years being her friend, being the person she would go to with all her troubles whenever the Oro Jackson and later the Red Force would dock at the island. And maybe it was all those years of pining after the woman but never acting on his affections that had slowly changed his feelings for her without his knowing so when they had both agreed "Fuck it" and tried to start...something, they had just laughed it off and claimed that they would never work as lovers but made for pretty excellent partners in crime.

So when the Red Force had docked, and he had disembarked to find that there was no pink haired woman, a roguish smile on her face with one hand on a cocked hip, he had been slightly worried - he would deny that he had panicked as much as Benn would argue he had - so he made the calm, and yes it was calm and did not include his crew trying to settle him down to think it through - decision to visit her at her home.

It was a simple one story cottage on the edge of town with a beautiful view over a large body of water mere steps from the back door, lined with various plants leading up to the front porch where a simple swing hung from two chains.

The only thing that had tipped him off to something being wrong, or even amiss, was the amount of weeds popping from from between all the plant life.

He knew that Tifa took pride in how immaculate her gardens were, always made it a point to rope Shanks into helping her out with the grunt work by bribing him with sake and not following through on it until he was planning to leave and she 'conveniently' remembered she owed him for weeding her garden. She always made it a point to do this loudly and in front of his crew so that they could have some blackmail on him, Benn had told him that they were planning on selling the information if they ever needed too.

Traitors, the lot of them.

Catching sight of the small purple blanket hanging over the ledge of the front porch railing, Shanks at first didn't think much or it - Tifa was a seamstress who worked out of her home so it probably just belonged to a customer that just forgot it - until he stepped in front the front door expecting to see the immaculate house that never had a speck of dust and found what he could only say looked like a small tornado had formed inside of.

There were fabrics hanging from a ceiling fan - how? - there was what looked like food on the ceiling dripping down onto an open child's book - what? - and there were various children's toys all over the floor acting as landmines he had to navigate through.

"Ah, Tifa?" He called out, dodging an open jack-in-the-box, trying to make his way to the large archway that he knew from experience led to the kitchen.

"Shit-I mean Fuck-shit, ah damn it!" He raised an eyebrow as he heard the clanging of pans knocking together as Tifa swore loudly, something she only ever did when stressed beyond belief. "Damn it! Shanks! Get your ass in here. Oh no-don't cry!" That had him slightly panicking, who was here that she was so worried about. "Shanks! Now!" He knew better than to ignore the pinkette, even if he couldn't see her.

What he expected was far from what he got.

Looking back at what he had traversed through, he should have clued in to just what he was walking in on.

But instead he was struck, dumbstruck as the normally put together pink haired woman he had come to love turned in his direction holding a small bundle that was wailing like a banshee. Granted, he would argue that no one would have expect the woman who for many years loudly proclaimed she would never have a child using the reasoning that they were 'no good, money sucking terrors' and would 'gladly fight a seaking barehanded than give birth to a kid'.

"Don't just stand there, get me that damn bottle!" His movements were almost robotic as he hesitantly held the warm bottle of milk that had been sitting on the counter out for Tifa to grab and watched silently as the pink haired woman adjusted the bundle in her arms enough so he could see the tuft of red hair - the same shade he would see every time he looked in a mirror - framing a round face with the same green eyes that Tifa held, bright seafoam green iris with no pupil and a thin black ring containing the colour. "There, maybe now you'll stop screaming bloody murder." Tifa sighed, slumping down into one of the two chairs at a small table built for two.

Hair messily pulled into a low ponytail, a white stained button up shirt only half tucked into clashing lime green pants equally as stained, shoe less and definitely tired seeing as the bags under her eyes had bags was just how ruffled Tifa looked when Shanks finally pulled his gaze away from the child in her arms and finally looked at the woman he hadn't seen in almost a year.

A year since they had both tried to be more than friends and both agreed that they would never work as a couple.

A year since that night they both joked was just another story they could share when they got older.

And now, here was Tifa a year later holding a child - an infant - that couldn't be any older than three months if even that. A child that had the same shade of hair as himself, the same seafoam green eyes that could stop a dealing dead that were wide and had yet to decide if they would remain that way or become narrowed like his with a small button nose that Tifa herself possessed.

"She's yours, before you ask." He dragged his eyes up to meet Tifa's own tired green ones. "Turns out, once was enough so thanks." There was that roguish smile she would always give him, just with obvious exhaustion behind it. "So much for never having kids, huh."

"Tifa." He began. But, what was there to say. He was sorry? If he had known? That night was a mistake even if he didn't regret it?

"Shanks, so help me if you start apologizing I will kick your ass with one hand while still holding Wren in the other." She shot him a tired glare with narrowed eyes but he wasn't focusing on that; he was focusing on the fact he now had a name for the little girl she was holding.

The little girl.

Wren.

_His_ daughter.

_His_ little girl, _his_ daughter, _his_ Wren.

"How old is she?" He found his voice as Tifa set the bottle down on the little table and proceeded to burp the little girl, catching sight of the small hands fisted in a combination of pink hair falling out of the ponytail and shirt that her mother was wearing.

"Just under three months. Hey, do me a solid and hold her like this. Make sure you support her head or your head will roll. Oh and watch out, she loves pulling hair." He is given no choice to argue against holding the small bundle that is his daughter as Tifa made herself busy by trying to clean the place up some. The operative word being 'tried'. "I haven't had a shower in two days, you're good holding her right? Cool, I'll be back in twenty."

"Wait-what? Tifa!" He called after the pink haired woman but no answer in return except for a shirt being thrown at his face with a call of 'Throw that in the trash when you get a sec'. Leaving him alone save for the baby that had been quiet up to that point, staring at him with those seafoam green eyes.

"Well kid, I guess it just you and me for now." He stared down at his daughter, watching as she was able to squirm her arms out of where they had been wrapped up in what looked like had once been one of Tifa's dish rags. Readjusting his grip on his daughter, Shanks had to resist the urge to jerk his head back when Wren had quicker than he thought possible for a child as young as her got a fist full of his hair and pulled, hard.

Why hadn't Tifa sent word to him? She had the number to his transponder snail and years ago he had given her, a white one so that there was little to no chance of someone listening in on their conversation that wasn't in the room with them as they talked.

Another tug on his hair that yanked his head to the side. Little girl had quite the grip.

"Oh, you definitely are Tifa's kid." Wren just gave him a gummy smile in return and tugged again on his hair, this time Shanks was expecting it so it wasn't quite the jerk on his head.

Her seafoam coloured eyes met him and if she was older Shanks could have sworn that she was trying to stare him down but for now it just looked like she was seconds away from bursting into tears gong from the pinched look on her face.

"Don't forget, you played a part in creating that little monster." Tifa's voice rang out from behind him - had it already been twenty minutes? - and when she leant over his shoulder it was stark contrast to how she looked earlier. "But, she's our little monster." Pink hair fell in front of his face as he felt lips on the crown of his head. "God, aren't we just the definition of domestication. It's sicking." A gurgle from Wren. "Yeah, I guess you're pretty cute when you're not trying to wake sleeping seakings." A pale hand rubbed Wren's head gently, brushing the red locks back out of her face. "We made a pretty cute kid, didn't we."

"Yeah, takes after her mother that's for sure."

A snort, "Don't let this innocent face fool you, she definitely acts like a young cocksure cabin boy who literally tripped and spilt sake on himself the first time I met him." Arms wrapped around his shoulders clasping in front of his chest. "Before you ask, and I know you've been thinking about it, I didn't need to send you a letter. You are nothing if not a creature of habit so I knew that you'd be back within the year, it was just a matter of when."

Shanks lent back against Tifa, "Who knows that she's my daughter?" If the marines ever got wind that he had a child - an infant, a baby who couldn't even hold her own head up, right now - than he can only imagine what they would do to find her; if they were willing to slaughter women and children that they thought were connected to a dead man then what were they willing to do when he was still alive?

"It's not hard to tell, and the people living here are not idiots. They also know just how important it is for the marines to _not_ know she exist until she can survive on her own. We all can guess just how far the marines would be willing to go and the sins of the parent should never be the sins of the child." Her grip tightened around his shoulder and he could hear the venom in her words. Tifa was not a weak woman, she would fight tooth and nail until her last dying breath to make sure that her daughter, their daughter, survived anything the marines threw at her.

"They'd have to go through me first to get to her." Shank could feel his eyes harden at even the thought of the marines coming after Tifa and and the now sleeping Wren. Over his dead body would anything ever happen to these two.

 

* * *

 

 

"Come on Wren, come to papa." Squatting down in a low crouch, Shanks couldn't keep the grin off his face as Wren, on unsteady legs teetered from side to side as her pudgy hands released the edge of the wooden chair in the living room to make the four foot journey into his arms. "Come on little Songbird." He couldn't keep the grin off his face at the look on concentration on little Wren's face as she focused on each step.

She was the most adorable child he had ever seen and maybe he was a bit biased but he had never seen a child that could pull off his shade of hair but with Tifa's everything else and still look so damn adorable.

"Songbird? Really Shanks." He could feel Tifa's gaze on his back but was too focused on the fact that Wren had grabbed one of his arms to help keep herself balanced and then let go, whereas other children would have continued to hold on, to continue her path into his arms.

"What? You're just jealous that you didn't think of it first." He grin letting out a peal of joy as Wren's head smacked him in the chest, making him lift her up from her armpits and spin her around with a smile on both of their faces. "Isn't that right, little Songbird, mama's just jealous that she didn't think of that nickname first."

Wren's little arms flailed as she let out a squeal of joy with a toothy grin, her red curls bouncing freely not yet weighed down by how thick they would get to be if she was going to inherit her mother's genes.

"Uh huh, what ever helps you sleep at night." Tifa snarky voiced chimed in over the sounds of fabric being cut. "Your daddy's a dumbass, isn't he Birdie?"

Shanks shot his own daughter a disbelieving look as the toddler nodded, a smile on her face with eyes closed but upturned slightly to show her joy, "Yup, daddy dumbass." His look of semi-disbelief dropped as did his jaw at his daughter's first word, well words. And only a child of Tifa would chose her first words to include a swear.

"Birdie! Your first words!" Wren was plucked from out of his outstretched arms as Tifa abandoned her work, spinning around with a laughing child in her arms, curls bouncing about her head. "Those dumbasses down at the bar don't know shit, I knew you'd start talking when you were ready."

"Tifa!" His hands flew to his hair, taking fistfuls into his hands as his jaw dropped. "Her first word was calling me a dumbass! What are you teaching our child! She's going to grow up swearing I just know it. My innocent little girl is going to have the mouth of a sailor." He wailed, thumping his head against the arch of the doorway leading to the kitchen. His little girl was only a year old and couldn't be swearing already!

"Oh, don't worry so much, she was going to learn how to swear eventually. At least now we can get her started early and she can create some unique combinations when she gets older." Tifa nestled her face against Wren's, "Isn't that right Birdie, gotta keep everyone on their toes and shock them with creative swears." She shot him a look, seafoam green eyes shining with mirth, "Your daddy is just overreacting for no reason, do you know why?"

"Daddy dumbass." Came Wren's cheery response as she and Tifa began laughing as he was set into another fit.

 

* * *

 

 

"Daddy!" Shanks barely even got a foot in the town before small arms wrapped themselves around his legs, seafoam green eyes wide and full of joy at seeing him for the first time in a year. "You're back! Mama said you were taking your sweet ass time docking." He had to steel himself from reacting to Wren swearing. Honestly, he was mostly surprised that every other word wasn't a swear given who her mother was.

"Yeah, what else did your mama say." He lifted Wren up, setting her on his hip as she leant her head on his shoulder at the new height.

"That's you're a no good mooch who needs to weed the garden before he heads back out to sea or so help her she will drag you back by your stupid straw hat and personally kick your ass until the job is done. All without spilling her drink." Wren chirped happily with a smile on her face much to the chagrin of her father as they walked around the edge of the town and headed down the dirt path leading to Tifa's.

She was turning into a mini Tifa and that worried him. One Tifa was enough, another Tifa being released onto the world was just asking for trouble. It especially worried him because this was his little girl, his little Songbird, and as much as he loved Tifa it took a special type of person to 'click' with her personality and if his daughter was becoming just like her mother than that personality could get her in trouble with the wrong crowd.

"And don't think I won't do it, right Birdie." Tifa rung her hands clean with a rag before tossing it over her shoulder so it landed in the sink situated in her kitchen and pulled her pink hair up into a high bun. "Don't you have something you wanted to give your dad, Birdie?" He had a moment of panic as Wren escaped his grip - how? He could have sworn he had a tight grip on her? - landing in a perfect crouch on the balls of her feet before tearing off down the hall to her room, Tifa and himself flinching when the sound of something breaking caught their ears. "That would be the hallway vase. Again. For the fifth time this month."

"Terrible twos that bad?" Shanks smirked as Tifa flopped herself down on the two seater couch, throwing an arm over her eyes as she left out a loud sigh.

"I wish." Tifa lifted her arm off her eyes just long enough to level him with a look as he moved her feet and set them on his lap as he sat on the other side of the couch. "I think I would prefer the screaming and temper tantrums but no I get the most hyperactive two year old I've ever seen. Hell, the brats I see the other woman dragging through town never have as much energy as Wren. I blame you." He could hear the teasing in her voice as she dug her heel into his thigh, joking jabbing him in the side with two of her fingers to drive home the point.

Going to open his mouth, Shanks let out an oomph as small arms wrapped themselves around his neck, one pudgy hand - slimmer than what it had been when she was younger - holding a small brown package wrapped with a ridiculous amount of tape and a sparkling orange bow. The letters 'Happy Birthday Daddy' scribbled out in different colours for each letter.

"What do you got there, Songbird?" He plucked Wren up by the back of her shirt - always a shirt, never a dress as Tifa and Wren both hated them with burning passions as they had both loudly proclaimed - without having to turn around. Wren didn't seem to mind being held up in front of his face by the back of her shirt and shot him a large toothy grin, holding out the package only inches away from his nose.

"It's for you." Wren thrust the package closer to his face, bumping it against his nose as she still had yet to properly judge depth perception. "It was meant to be a birthday present but you didn't show up around the time mama says you usually would." That was true. He would usually come to island either in the late spring or early summer but with his new bounty that was steadily growing with each encounter he had with the marines, it was getting harder to leave the New World and so he had only been able to sneak away by the time autumn had come around. "Sorry it's so late." He couldn't help but chuckle at the downcast look, adjusting her so she now sat against his back and held her there with one arm as the other careful took the package out of her hands.

"Let's see what we have here." He hummed, taking the small package no bigger than the palm of his hand. "Did you pick this out Songbird?" He carefully peeled off the bow dropping it on his daughter's head and earning a giggle from the little girl.

"Mama helped!" She chirped happily, all but vibrating with excitement, and Shanks had to jerk his head back to avoid getting smacked in the face by a wayward hand.

Under all the tape and brown packaging was a simple nondescript black box that gave no hint as to what was nestled inside. Lightly shaking it side to side resulted in no noise so it either was sitting on something making it quiet or move silently or what ever was in the box was literally the same size as what it was sitting in.

It was probably cliche of him to think it but what he found when he popped off the top of the box was not what he had been expecting.

It was a simple silver chain, from the looks only really polished steel made to look like silver, surrounding a square shaped locket, opened, showing a small picture of himself lying on this exact seat with his hat pulled over his face. One hand thrown behind his head while the other was holding a sleeping Wren to his chest, her small hands holding fistfuls of his white shirt.

"Do you like it?" Wren's little voice questioned, swinging her head from side to side trying to get a good look at Shanks as the man in question careful picked the necklace up by the chain, watching as the open locket spun back and forth.

Closing his fist around the locket, Shanks dragged Wren closer to his chest, leaning his head down so his lips touched the crown of her head, laying a light kiss on the red hair, tilting his head to meet the seafoam mirthful eyes of Tifa, grabbing one of her hands in his own. "I love it Songbird."

 

* * *

 

 

Her face was wrong; it should have been round not beginning to become heart shaped. Her skin colour was wrong; it should have been a nice caramel tone ("It looks like a shot of espresso and milk." "It does not!") not pale. Her hair was wrong; where was her natural raven locks, and when had she gained hair that rivaled the colour of blood?. Her eyes were most definitely wrong; where were her hazel eyes that she had once been so proud of and when had she gained seafoam green pupil less eyes that while looking bright also somehow looked dull, like she could stare someone down and look like she didn't care.

When had one Charlotte Dean become one Foley Wren? Actually, it wasn't that hard to tell when she had become Foley Wren - last name first? - as she was just over three years old now where as she could distinctly remember being being twenty two and walking home when...something had happened and now she was here.

Here being a world she remembered reading when she had been a teenager and young adult but had stopped really paying attention to it after the Marineford Arc for obvious reasons. Life had gotten in the way not long after and so she only read the odd chapter here and there getting the jist of what was going on but still missing large chunks of information.

But it did not take a rocket scientist for her to realize that something had to have happened to her - to Charlotte - and now she was here, now she was Wren.

Wren, the daughter of Foley Tifa - "Hey, can you do me a solid?" - and Red-Haired - "Tifa, no. Tifa, stop." - Shanks. Because being born into a world that should not exist wasn't bad enough, she was now the daughter of the youngest and newest Emperor - or was he still just some up start pirate? - and if she knew anything about the marines the moment they knew she existed she was in trouble.

If she lived long enough that was. As far as she could remember, never on any page or in any adaptation, had there ever been a girl that was the daughter of Red-Haired Shanks. Never any mention from any of the main characters, not any extra tidbits given by the creator of the story, there was no mention of someone like her ever existing.

Maybe, maybe Wren had existed before but hadn't lived long enough to make an impact on the story. If that was so, were her days numbered? Would she live long enough to actually make any sort of impact on the story?

No, she would make sure that Wren, that she, survived long enough to make an impact on the story. Her own life be damned, she was alive now and she would make sure that she would die first before anyone else she got close too. After all what was one life of someone who shouldn't exist to the lives of many that should, to the lives of those who hadn't already lived once.

It was almost depressing to her. Here were two people who hadn't wanted a child but got one but not the one they should have, instead they got a child with a literal old soul, a soul that had already lived a past life and remembered some of it.

"What's wrong, Birdie?" Wren met the seafoam green eyes of her mother, she had to resist the urge to flinch as memories of her first mother - brown hair, blue eyes - flashed through her mind, and tried to play off the fact she had just spent the better part of five minutes staring off into space.

"Nothing mama." She was mama for now because mother was too formal and mom was still the woman from the other world, from the Before. "Just thinking about papa." Shanks was papa, never dad or daddy because that was a man older than her first mother with black hair and hazel eyes that had a quiet personality that complimented her first mother's own loud one.

A sigh, as two hands lifted her up and caused a squeak to escape her lips, and soon Wren found herself sitting with legs on either side of her mother's head so now both women were facing the sea, her hands holding fistfuls of the pink hair - not brown because this was not mom - as her mama held her bony legs.

The sea was peaceful, calm, and Wren could understand just why it drew so many people to try and conquer it. She could understand just why Roger had decided to venture out all those years ago seeking freedom in the form of the sea, and why her father who loved both herself and her mother, because it was painfully obvious even to her as a three year old that he did love the two of them, kept heading back out to sea after visiting for a few weeks at a time.

When Shanks - papa - came back to the island for his yearly visit she would have to ask him about Haki and beginning training to use Haki because if she was going to make herself useful in this the world then the first step would be learning to control her 'ambition' or 'will power' or whatever they called it in this world.

Though if he wasn't back by the end of the month, Wren was fully prepared to take charge of her own training until he got back.

 

* * *

 

 

A/N

 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the first step on Wren's story. Don't forget to drop a review telling me what you liked, disliked, or thought could be improved.

Also, I kinda made a thing for this profile on tumblr, 

http://vintage-typewriter.tumblr.com/

Do with that what you will.


	2. Riptide (Vance Joy)

It was rumoured that Red-Haired Shanks frequented the small summer island of Volca at least once a year. Well, not so much rumoured as he outwardly admitted that anytime he ran out of the best sake this side of Reverse mountain, he made sure to stop at the island. And with the confirmed sightings of the Red Force in the East Blue, Pops had chosen to direct the Moby Dick to set course for the island, lest he give the other pirate - 'Red-Haired upstart' Pops would grumble - the idea that he was right.

Of course, the rest of the crew was just happy to get off the ship for even a day or two - or however long Pops wanted to stay - and the promise of even half decent alcohol was an added bonus for a majority of them. Even if it ended up with him being a headache because as commander of the first division and unaffected by alcohol because of his devil fruit, he would be the one left to clean up the mess left by his brothers and sisters.

Of course, said brothers and sisters along with Pops continued to give him a hard time telling him to 'loosen up' and 'live a little, you giant blue chicken' but of course if he did that then there was a ninety percent chance that the Moby Dick would 'accidentally' catch fire.

Again.

For the fourth time.

In a month.

Not like that stopped his siblings from trying to convince him to get drunk when they themselves were three sheets to the wind. And Pops was never any help, in fact he would often encourage his other children to try and rope him into drinking with them.

That was how he found himself visiting a few of the local businesses that his siblings had ignored in hopes of finding supplies that they were running low on, the most prominent being of course alcohol and both dried meat and fruit. As the only sober one, and clearly the only adult on the crew, it was his job to make sure they could last until the next island.

So when he exited a store owned by a lovely elderly couple who welcomed him with opened arms even though he was a pirate, he had to stop as the sound of a child's squeal caught his ears. Most people wouldn't have thought much of the noise, but him being the only person on the street and having been the oldest sibling on the crew - and he would deny until his dying day that it was his 'mother hen' tendency - that drove him to investigate, because children didn't make that noise unless they were in distress.

Turning the corner of the street, he had not been expecting to find three children, two obviously older with one clearly being a follower and the other being the leader standing over a small red haired girl - that colour was so familiar but on a much younger body - who couldn't be older than three or four that they had clearly knocked over if the way she was sitting on the ground was anything to go off of.

"What's going on over here?" Slowly striding over, he met the eyes of the red-haired girl and instantly forgot how similar her hair was in exchange for noting just how eerie those seafoam green coloured eyes were, especially when they were filled with the fire she was shooting the older - and they were clearly older - boys standing above her.

"Stay out of this old man." The leader of the two boys - waist height, mud brown hair, stocky - called over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn around and see just who was approaching him. "This is between us, and the freak."

"Yeah." The follower - black hair, thin frame, shaking like a leaf - stammered out.

He could only watch as the little girl pulled herself up, brushing off both the hate filled words with a dull expression, the only sign his words affected her was the clenching of one fist, and brushing off the literally dust on her cream pants and purple top. "You done?" He couldn't help but smirk at the deadpan answer the young girl leveled the other two boys with. "Because, I've got places to be."

This seemed to infuriate the lead boy, the other boy who was the follower kept nervous shifting his weight from side to side and casting fleeting glances over his shoulder at him, who visibly tensed and took a threatening step towards the girl. "At least I know who my father is. Your mom probably sleeps with every-"

It happened in split second.

One second saw the lead boy standing a head above the seafoam green eyed girl and the next he was down on the ground holding his now bleeding nose as the seafoam green eyed girl now stood above the boy who had been tormenting her, the black coating of Armament Haki receding from her outstretched fist - thumb over curled fingers, arm rotating with the follow through - shocking the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates from the blatant use of Haki by a three year old.

This might have been the Grand Line but a child in their single digits using Haki - Armament at that - was a rare sight.

Pops would want to know. Pops _should_ know.

"Don't. Insult. My. Mama." The girl hissed, spitting at the boy on the ground not even sparing the raven haired boy a look as he collected his leader off the ground, the mud brown haired boy calling back with a shaking voice that he was going to tell his father. "Idiots." The blue-green eyes turned to him and if he had been anyone else he probably would have been unnerved at how this little girl seemed to be eyeing him up before lighting up with recognition when settling on his chest tattoo.

"That was pretty impressive, kid." He knelt down, coming eye level with the seafoam green eyed child. "Where does a five year old learn how to use Haki?" He ran his own teal eyes over the girl; purple shirt dirtied, cream pants dirty, brown boots scuffed up, seafoam green eyes, heart shaped face, button nose, and red hair tied up in pigtails with white bands with some curly locks having fallen out from the fight.

"Four." His eyes dragged themselves down from the red hair - just where had he seen that shade before? - to meet those blue-green eyes once more. "I'm four, not five." Yes, because her age was the most important thing right now, not the fact that a four year old was able to use Haki. "And I taught myself."

Wait. What? This kid taught herself?

"So, are we done here because my mama's been expecting me for the past ten minutes?"

How in the world did a four year old kid learn how to teach herself how to use Haki? And on top of that, when did this kid start learning how to use Haki, it took himself years of practice and help from Pops himself to use Haki to some degree of success and here was this kid who train herself using Armament.

"Well, I'm going now. Nice meeting you Marco."

Wait. What?

Marco went to stop the girl, grab the ends of her shirt put she had already taken off down the street, disappearing around the street corner before he could stop her. Even when trying to locate her using Observation Haki he had no luck.

How did she know his name and been so sure of herself when calling out his name, he never introduced himself and he couldn't believe that she would have seen his bounty poster before as his bounty hadn't gone up in years? How did someone so young have such old eyes, the last time he had seen eyes like that was when Roger and Pops met up again just after the man had returned from Raftel? How did she learn to use Armament Haki by herself? And how did a four year old learn how to smother her aura to the point that not even he could pick her out of the villagers, it was like trying to find a leaf in a forest? That was something only the most experienced of Haki users could do.

This kid was going to grow up to be someone interesting.

Someone Pops should be alerted too.

* * *

His captain may have been one of the most feared men by a majority of the marines - and respected by the rest for the power he held - but the man could not keep anything secret from his crew no matter how hard he tried so it was no surprise to them when, after receiving a call via transponder snail, he had immediately changed course for the Grand Line - for Volca to be exact - with no other explanation than something had come up.

They weren't stupid, it hadn't hard to put two and two together whenever they had docked at the small summer island in the middle of the Grand Line.

It had also helped when the mayor, a nice elderly fellow who had been mayor when the Roger Pirates had first started to stop at the island, had admitted to them that the pink haired woman that each crew member on board the Red Force knew as a close 'friend' of their captain had a daughter with the same red hair that their own captain had.

So they let him have his time away from them, let him be the father his daughter needed when he was around, and knew that he would eventually introduce his daughter - Foley Wren as the mayor had happily informed them - when he was ready or, more likely, when Tifa finally kicked his ass into gear.

Something big in that letter had to have spooked him, there was no other explanation as to why they had to pack up and leave in the middle of a party, so they had all agreed to let their captain have a day with his girls before they took it upon themselves to introduce themselves to the mini red head.

It was only his hand on his captains shoulder that stopped the man from disappearing once they were fully docked to find his knew why they were here, something had to have happened to one of his girls, and they would give him the day to check in to both make sure they were okay and to reassure himself that nothing had happened but they wanted to met his daughter while they were here this time.

"Tomorrow." Shanks had agreed, "Tifa and I will bring her to the bar tomorrow. It's about time she met you all anyway."

So he had relayed that note to the rest of the crew, each of them agreeing that the occasion was one that they needed to be one hundred percent sober for, and for a crew that was infamous for celebrating everything with a party, it was a great test of willpower for them all to head to the bar they always frequented and not touch a drop of alcohol.

It's not long after they all find themselves in their favourite bar the next day, did a flash of red out of the corner of his eye catch his attention. What he had been expecting was to meet the familiar face of his captain, what he hadn't been expecting was the turn his head and meet familiar seafoam green eyes, light in colour with no pupils and a thick ring around the seafoam green, on a face that had red strands of hair escaping a small ponytail framing it.

There was no arguing just who this kid';s parents were.

"Hi." The girl chirped drawing the attention of each crew member, many quiet but still audible breaths hitching once eyes are laid on the girl because yes, they had been expecting the captain's daughter but they weren't expecting the literal combination of both parents best genes.

Most people would either focus on the girl's eyes or hair but he was the sniper on the crew, it was his job to notice the small details. Outwardly, the kid was a carbon copy of her mother just with her father's hair but he could see the subtle influences Shanks' blood had on the kid, like the fact her eyes were starting to take the narrow shape of Shanks'.

But what he noticed the most were those eyes of hers. Not the colour because he had met Tifa and was used to seeing seafoam green eyes like hers but it was just how intelligent those eyes were and just how she trailed her eyes over each and everyone of them, judging them, taking stock of them.

Analyzing them.

There was no other word for it other than the fact the kid, who couldn't be more than four or five, was analyzing each of them. Only giving them a honest smile when it seemed she decided they either she could trust them or maybe that yes, these people were on her father's crew.

"Right. Wren, meet the crew. Crew, meet my little Wren." Hands came down on either of Wren's shoulders as Shanks beamed a smile at them over his daughter's head, Tifa shaking her head at his antics as she passed. Though Shanks might have been smiling at them, there was a promise in that smile that he would not take kindly to any bad word being directed at his girls.

He was quite fine not being on that shit list.

"Hey there little Wren." He stuck his hand out to the little red haired girl, catching her eyes. "I'm-"

"Yasopp. The crew's sniper." How did she? "I've seen your bounty poster." Ah, that would be it. "s it true that papa would be dead without you, Roo, and Benn?"

Papa.

That word is the damning proof, along with that shade of red hair, that his captain has fathered a child with the women he loved, or at least at one point thought he loved enough to start some sort of relationship with. Much like himself in that regards with his own boy and wife back at Syrup Village in the East Blue.

He chuckles, ruffling her hair - curly locks from how short it is must be from Tifa's blood as Shanks' hair never had any volume - with one hand. "Let me tell you a story about how your dad decided to go off on his own one day and almost got eaten by a beetle twice the size of himself and how Benn and I had to rescue him."

That grin she shoots him is all Shanks and Yasopp knows right then and there that everyone on the crew - both new and old - knew that if the marines ever got their hands on this lovely little girl that the Red-Haired Pirates would raze each and everyone of their bases to get her back.

* * *

It's only when Wren in almost five years old does Shanks realize just how special his only child and daughter is. Granted, most parents always claim that any child of theirs is special but he is the only one that gets to truly claim that.

Because how many parents can claim that their four - almost five - year old can use Armament Haki with no proper training.

And that was most definitely Armament Haki coating her hand and wrist black as she picked up various rocks lining the pathway up to Tifa's home, and she hadn't seemed to notice that he has stopped weeding the garden just focusing on picking up the once round stones, and snapping them in two with her tiny fingers.

"What do you have there, Songbird?" He watches as the stone his daughter had clenched in her fist crumples to dust as she jumps in surprise and spins to face him with wide seafoam green eyes.

"Papa?" He watches as she tilts her head at him, hand still clenched tight with fine grains sneaking out from the cracks between her fingers, still pudgy put growing slimmer each time he sees her as she gets older.

Had it really only been almost five years since he walked into Tifa home to be handed a child about the length of his forearm and now here she was walking, talking, and using Haki like it was no big deal.

From an infant with curly red hair, to a toddler with pudgy limbs, to a young girl with half picked scabs and hair tied up in two pigtails on either side, hair keeping some of the curls but slowly losing the curl. His daughter is growing up before his eyes, and growing up to be a beautiful woman given who her mother is and that causes worry down in his gut that he pushes aside in order to study his daughter as she goes back to crushing stones in her hands.

"Has your mom been teaching you?" Tifa had some skill in both Armament and Observation Haki so maybe she had been teaching Wren without telling him, that would be something she would do to keep him on his toes.

"Nope." Wren chirps, turning another stone the size of her palm to dust. "Mama's been busy. So I taught myself." She shrugs like it's no big deal, like it was normal for a four year old to teach herself how to use Haki to the extent she has.

"Okay." He nods. If her Armament is as good as it is for her age, then he wonders how good her Observation is. "Do you know about Observation?"He can't help but grin as Wren nods, dropping the stone - five perfect indents from her fingers now on its surface - she had picked up, and suppresses her aura, not by much but enough that the average Haki user would have a hard time picking her out of a crowd.

How in the world?

"Where'd you learn to do that, Songbird?" Because his child just performed one of the most difficult abilities associated with Observational Haki and she's only four years old. Something he has never heard of someone so young doing.

"I taught myself." Her voice is full of childish pride, and that's just proof that she doesn't understand the ramifications of what she has just accomplished. "Mama said it scared her the first time I did it because she could feel me one minute and the next I was gone. What did she mean by feel me?"

He steels his expression because sitting in front of him and his own flesh and blood is probably the next coming of old man Rayleigh if she really put her mind to it. "Nothing kiddo." He ruffled her hair earning a squeal of delight as she tries to pull away. "You keep practicing, I'm going to go talk with your mom for a minute." He couldn't help but grin at her when she gave him an enthusiastic nod of her head, ruffling her hair with one hand and jabbing her softly in the chest earning a giggle from the young girl as she happily picked up yet another stone, crushing it easily in her fist.

"Hey Shanks, can you do me a solid?" Of course those were the first words out of Tifa's mouth as she didn't even turn around to face him as he walked in through the front door.

"Last time I agreed to that statement I found myself striped of my breeches and modeling a dress in front of a bunch of sexually questionable men." He pulled up one of the spare chairs from the dining room table, through his legs on either side of the chair back, watching as Tifa held a needle in her mouth as she angled the fabric she was working on.

"You shush." She smacked his arm lightly, "That dress was for one of my best customers and the wedding was beautiful. You almost wore that dress better than the groom himself. And I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got more of a chest than you do so I couldn't wear it properly." She fed the fabric, now obviously the beginnings of a shirt, through the machine in front of her. "You've got that look on your face, what's up?"

He rubbed a hand over his face, "You know Wren can use Haki?"

She hummed, taking her foot off the pedal of the sewing machine, "I figured as much. Not that hard to figure out with the amount of stones in my garden that now have tiny finger indents in them. Add that to the fact I'm always using Observation Haki when I can't see her so I know where she is because she is somehow able to suppress her aura and let me tell you, I lost five years of my life panicking over that and I'm sure I've got five new grey hairs as well."

"Mother knows all."He couldn't help but chuckle before letting out a soft sigh. "I can stay two more, maybe three more days before the marines start getting antsy and start investigating why I'm here but I'll do what I can in helping her develop her Haki but could you-"

"Take over where you leave off?" She finished, pinning two pieces of fabric together. "I was planning on teaching her myself once she hit five but I guess now is as good as any." She stretched her arms way above her head, lifting her shirt up exposing her taut stomach - not that Shanks was looking. "I'll have to break out my old training daggers and get her started on those as well." Shanks let out a strangled yelp earning a roll of the eyes from Tifa. "Honestly, you think I'm not going to train my daughter to use a weapon that can be hidden? You can stick a knife - dagger in this case - in a bra better than you can a sword."

She...did have a point. As perturbing as that thought was, daggers were easier to hide on a body than swords were.

It wasn't hard to deduce that Tifa had hidden daggers in her bra before - that had been fun to discover the night they said "Fuck it" - and teaching their daughter to do the same caused unwanted images to pop into his mind.

An older Wren looking almost exactly like her mother, down to her...well-endowed chest, wearing the same clothing her mother would wear out of the house - cut off low cut tops, short shorts - giving boys killer smiles that caused them to run after her with less than innocent thoughts running through their head.

Oh, he hadn't even thought of the boys that would be after his grown up little Songbird.

She would grow up to be beautiful, that much he was sure of, and that would attract boys who would want to date his beautiful girl but he wasn'tt going to let that happen, over his dead body would anyone even get to even think about dating his daughter. She would not be allowed to date until she was thirty-

No.

Thirty was too soon.

She would not be allowed to date anyone until someone found the One Piece.

And seeing as how it had almost been a decade since Captain Roger had hid it from the world, there was little chance in anyone finding it anytime soon and therefore no chance that anyone would even think about dating his daughter.

"Oi,"Tifa smacked him on the head dragging him from his thoughts, "get that murderous look off your face and stop thinking about our daughter dating when she gets older." How did she know what was going through his head? "Because you're not thinking them, dumbass." Oh, that made sense. "Of course it does. Now get the frickity frack out of my house so I can get some work done or the first thing I'll teach her is how to hit a moving target with you as the target. Now go entertain our daughter because I can feel her getting bored out there." Pushy woman. "I heard that asshole."

He laughed, dodging the book thrown at the doorway he escaped out of, hopping down the steps and scooping up Wren just as she crumbled the last stone from her pile. What was it that Tifa had said, "Now was as good a time as any?"

"Come on, Songbird. Daddy's gonna teach you how to use Armament Haki to knock down a tree with a single punch."

* * *

There were three brothers, sworn brothers but brothers all the same, that much she knew. One the son of a corrupt noble and the other two the sons of the most wanted people at different times in history.

Portgas D. Ace, the son of Gol D. Roger.

Outlook Sabo, the son of the noble Outlook III and rightful heir to the Goa Kingdom. Something about a kid named Stelly or Shelly was in there as well.

Monkey D. Luffy, the son of Monkey D. Dragon the most wanted man in the world and leader or the Revolutionary Army.

There would be an incident with some of Bluejam's crew and that would be the catalyst to them becoming sworn brothers. Then a fire would happen, Sabo would be kidnapped back by his father and thought dead but actually not and just suffering from amnesia. Or was it kidnapping first and then fire? Either way, Sabo was going to get kidnapped and Grey Terminal was going to catch fire.

Ace leaves, creates the Spade Pirates and eats the Mera Mera no mi. Gets his ass kicked by Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate and becomes the second division commander after a period of time.

Luffy leaves, and somehow ends up in a barrel where he meets Coby, no Koby, no definitely Coby. Or was it Koby? Ah Hell, Pinky McPinkerton the wannabe marine that was now going to be his name.

Meets with the Mask of Zorro, joins up with Nazi-

Is it offensive to all someone a Nazi if that group of people never existed in certain worlds like this one?

Wren stuck the tip of her left thumb in her mouth and bit it lightly as she thought, looking over her notes thankful that no one in this world seemed to understand Italian. Chalk one up for the immigrant maternal grandparents in her first life - in the Before - that enforced their grandkids to learn their first language.

She hummed, crossing out her previous thought, better to play it safe so Traity McTraitorson worked for now.

Something with Buggy the Clown, a dog, and then traveling to a new island where they meet Usopp and Kaya and Luffy defeats that guy who pushes up his glasses with the heel of his hand. Weird way to do that but she could have sworn it had something to do with how he got his nickname or something of the like. Also a hypnotist was there for some reason.

Then there was Vinsmoke Sanji - for now still just Sanji - and Traity McTraitorson betraying them before heading off to see the Freaky Fish Guy - Arlong but she liked the name she gave him instead. Shit happens there and then they were off to find Chopper - Emergency Food Supply - because Nami had gotten sick somehow.

Wait? Did Chopper happen before or after Loguetown? And wasn't there something about a group of bounty hunters or mercenaries and a princess with a duck? Ah, didn't really matter in the long run. Either way Luffy was going to destroy Roger's execution platform and nearly be captured by Smoker but was going to be saved by his father.

After Chopper came Alabasta because Vivi - the princess with the duck - wanted the Straw Hat's help defeating Crocodile which lead to meeting Ace and learning that he was hunting someone down because a monster had killed-

Wren stopped again, nearly snapping her pencil in two.

Ace was in Alabasta hunting down Marshall D. Teach - aka Blackbeard - because he had killed Thatch the fourth division commander and Ace's friend just for finding the Yami Yami no Mi devil fruit. Leading to the eventual fight between the two.

Ace's capture.

The War of the Best.

The death of two good men.

She had to shake her head, had to force those thought away to try and focus on Luffy's story.

Recruiting Robin and stopping the bomb that Crocodile placed in a clock tower. Getting Franky and the Sunny in one stop and losing both the Merry and Robin, the former completely and the latter for only a short amount of time because of something with the glyphs that are needed to reach the end of the Grand Line. Finding Brooke and his shadow in that triangle place with the guy who stole shadows, was that right?.

Going to Sabaody.

Fighting Kuma.

Amazon Lily.

Impel Down.

Marineford.

Everything led up to that moment, that fucking moment where a man was condemned for something he couldn't control, something that dogged him his entire life dragging down his self worth.

She wanted to scream, to rip out her hair and cry, tell someone, anyone that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger and needed to be shown he was worth more than he thought, that people loved him and didn't care whose blood he carried in his veins. Show him that there were people in this world that would miss him if he died and would give their own lives so that he could live.

She sighed, releasing her death grip on the pencil.

Everything boiled down to the War of the Best. Though Luffy had many allies helping him along the way, none of them held the same conviction he did in getting his brother out. He couldn't do it alone but even surrounded by people fighting with him he was alone.

Except, she was here.

She was here and she knew the bare bones of the main story - mostly the order in which people joined the crew and a few of the adventures they had gone on prior to the war and only a few tidbits of information after the timeskip like the Corazon-Law thing and Sanji's family being the Vinsmokes (something about the Big Mom Pirates were associated with that but she never got that far but she remembered rumours about a guy able to see the future) - but she still knew enough that she could make an impact.

She could show Ace that there were people in the world besides just Luffy and Whitebeard who loved him for just being himself.

She could help Luffy get stronger, enough so that he wouldn't be as exhausted as he reached the execution platform to stop those swords from coming down.

She could even try to find a way to make sure that the Yami Yami no Mi stayed hidden, out of sight of people - of the person - who had been looking for it for years.

She may only be six years old now and far away from making any dent in any part of the story but she knows that she could stop the war before it even got started. And she would gladly give her own life in exchange for the lives of everyone who lost their in the war because she didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

* * *

A/N:

And that makes chapter 2. Thank you to all who have followed, read, and reviewed this story and to all those who are the silent readers.

I did make a tumblr for this story just to post some sneak peaks and links to the chapters. Just look up vintage-typewriter or Foley Wren if you can't find me on there.

Don't forget to review if you can, anytime someone leaves a comment it just makes my day.


	3. The Woods (Hollow Coves)

She couldn't remember ever really having needed for her mom or dad in her first life - the Before - to give her The Talk, it had always seemed like something she knew from a young age. And even trying to look back at some of her faint memories, it always seemed like whenever someone tried to teach her about The Birds and The Bees it was always stuff she already knew.

Though, from what she could remember being taught, it was never quite as...colourful, sure she could use that word, as what her mama was telling her now.

A man had a penis, a woman had a vagina. She already knew that. When she got old enough and saw blood on her underwear that was normal she was just menstruating. Again, she already knew that. Never judge someone on their sexual orientation, you never know who you need to know in the world and it's best not to alienate them from you because of something they can't control. She never planned on doing that in the first place. And if you ever become sexual active then there was birth control available so she could lower her chances of getting pregnant- "No daughter of mine is becoming a teenage mother." -and it helped with lessen cramps. That was something she didn't know existed in this world, at least she now had a form of medication if her cycle was as bad as it was in her first life - in the Before, she needed to get use to referring to her last life as the Before it just made things easier.

Her mama continued on, informing her about all the different diseases that can be transferred from person to person - "What happens on the Grand Line stays on the Grand Line. Except for herpes, that shit comes back." So the Grand Line was this world's version of Vegas, good to know - and different ways to prevent the transfer of those diseases - "I don't care if he says it feels better not wearing one, you make any man you sleep with wear a condom." At least condoms were a thing in this world.

Maybe she should have been more disturbed when her mama continued on, telling her it was okay to be proud of her body and flash a little skin here and there - "Men will do almost anything for a woman if he sees even just a little cleavage" - and perhaps that was just a remnant of her past life sneaking through - some of Charlotte who had never been confident enough to wear lower cut clothing or shorts that didn't end at the knee - but from what she could remember about this world, as long as you were comfortable with what you wore, no one really cared.

That was actually quite refreshing. From what she could remember of her first life people would always judge you - sometimes even out right say it to your face - by what you wore whereas no one in this world seemed to care what anyone wore. Hell, her mother could wear her short shorts and cut off top and no one even blinked an eye that she was a mother wearing this. In this world, when she got older, she could explore a few clothing choices that no one ever let her explore in her last life.

She just wouldn't tell her papa - Shanks - lest the man freak out about her future clothing choices and hide her away on some desert island.

"Okay Birdie, any questions?" Shit, she had zoned out during her mama's speech. What was the last thing she had mentioned, was it herpes or something else? She needed to play off that she hadn't been paying attention fast.

"Does papa know you're teaching me this?" She cocked her head to the side, furrowing her brows slightly.

"Your papa doesn't need to know everything you or I do." That was probably a smart way to go about her life as well. Her papa _definitely_ did not need to know about her plan to stop a future war no matter the cost. "Anything else?" Her mama tapped her on her nose causing her eyes to go cross as she tried to follow the older woman's finger.

"Why'd we push all the furniture back?" That was still something her mother had yet to answer. Before her mama had gotten started on the sex ed lecture, she had roped Wren into helping her push all the furniture back against the wall giving them a good twenty square feet of room before plopping the two of them cross legged on the floor.

Her mama stood up, using one hand coated in Armament - something her mama willingly showed off in the house since she started training with Wren - to lift her up by the back of her shirt. "Well Birdie, since we've been practicing some basic hand to hand I figure it's time we start working on harder moves." Her mama set her back down on her own two feet, hands going to her hips. "So now is as good a time as any to teach you how to dance."

Her face must have showed her disbelief and caused her mama to scowl and flick her forehead.

"Don't give me that look." Her mama gently grabbed her wrists in her hands, pulling her into the center of the cleared space. "It's not sexist, it's just fact, we will never be as strong as men but we can outlast them with endurance." She stepped away, leaning over the sewing machine in the corner of the room where a sound shell was sitting and lightly pressed in the top in activating the shell and filling the room with breathy harmonious music. "And the best way to do that is to dance." Wren let out a squeal of joy when her mama grabbed one of her hands, spinning her around in a tight circle.

Right foot forward. Right foot back. Left foot forward. Left foot back. Right foot to the side. Right foot back. Left foot to the side. Left foot back. Rock the hips some and stay light on the balls of the feet. Rinse and repeat.

"Good job Birdie. Once you get this mastered, we can start throwing in some more complex moves. Always remember, fighting is like dancing." Her mama spun her around with one hand before leading her to add a few more steps in the simple routine.

Though the fact her muscles weren't as defined as when she was in her twenties the first time around was quite annoying to Wren as she soon found herself tiring quickly after only a few minutes of doing the same repeated movements. Dancing and learning how to both throw and manipulate daggers were quite different. "Does papa know how to dance?" She huffed out, trying not to try over her own two feet as she tried to grapevine to the left. Oh, the things she could do to his image if she ever needed to blackmail him.

Her mama hummed shaking her head with a small smile. "No, your dad has two left feet when doing anything but fighting with Mihawk but I bet if you asked when he visits this year he would gladly attempt to not look like a drunken monkey more than usual." A faster tempo started up. "Now, same movements just a bit faster. And five, six, seven, eight."

The rest of her seventh year followed the same routine; target practice with both stationary and moving targets in the form of birds on a nearby pond, steadily increasing the difficulty of dance moves with her mama and later on in the year incorporating wooden dowels to represent daggers as they mock fought using some of the dance moves, practicing both Armament and Observation Haki, and waiting for Shanks to return with news of the world and to further increase her ability with Haki.

That was the first time in her memory that her papa never showed up to visit in her seven years in this world. And perhaps that was a good thing as it meant he never had to cross paths with the marine admiral that decided to appear on the island.

* * *

"Little Wren is growing up to be quite the looker." Tifa pulled her eyes away for a second in the direction of the town mayor that had pulled up a chair beside her where she was working on altering a dress for a new bride. Why the bride chose to have her show up at the most popular bar in town during working hours was beyond what she was willing to care about. Wasn't the first time in the building's history that a bride had stood on a chair/bar stool/or table while she altered clothing. "Going to grow up looking like a copy of her mother."

"She may look like me - spin around darlin - but you can see her father's personality come out at the most random of times." She mumbled out around a mouth full of pins. "I swear that red hair just means the child is going to be trouble. You said you wanted it taken up in the front right?" She shot her eyes up to the dark haired bride standing on the stool who just nodded at her.

"You hear about what she did to the Withem boy-"

She stopped pinning the front of the dress up, shooting a deadpan glare at the taller spectacled man whose once raven locks that were slowly turning grey at the roots. "I'm still hearing from that cow of a woman about how much of a demon child my little girl is. Don't know what set Wren off but if the boy is anything like the mother then she should have hit him harder." She grumbled the rest under her mouth, earning a chuckle from the older man beside her.

"Yeah, sure. _Nothing_ like her mother." He mumbled around the rim of his mug, taking a long sip of the coffee flavoured rum. It might have been only noon on the island but it was five o'clock somewhere. "I definitely don't remember a pink haired girl punching out a pirate captain because he put his hand on her back. Nope, that didn't happen _at all_."

"Oi," Tifa shot him both a small smirk and a pointed finger, "you watch your mouth. I've got pins and I'm not afraid to take out one of your eyes with them." She stepped back, helping the would be bride down off the table that she could walk around with the temporarily altered dress, watching as the bride walked around the near empty bar, holding back a cringe every time the younger woman - she didn't look any older than what Tifa herself had been when she had Wren - stumbled in the heels clearly not used to walking in them.

She sat back, putting her elbows on the table behind her as she slumped in her seat, swirling the last quarter of her drink in the bottom of her glass lazily, glancing around the bar, focusing on the picture of herself holding a young - she must have been only a few months old at the time - Wren in her arms as Mayor Berkeley stuck a hat napkin on her head covering her red hair. "She's growing like a bad weed." Tifa hummed, bringing her glass up to her lips but not taking a sip, "Soon she'll be begging her dad to take her with him and the next time I'll see her she'll have a bounty on her head." She tilted the cup, finally taking a sip, catching the door to the bar flying open as one of the grocer boys ran into the bar, completely out of breath.

"Mayor Berkeley. Marines. Docking. Akainu. Looking. Red-Hair." The boy said breathlessly, panting in between each word and Tifa felt as if someone had just poured a bucket of freezing water over her and was surprised she didn't drop her glass once the information registered in her head.

Akainu. The Red Dog. The man who was 'famous' for his belief in Absolute Justice and how he hunted down so many women and children that _could_ have been associated with Roger. And the fact he was looking for Red-Hair - looking for Shanks - could only spell disaster for both herself, everyone in town, and most importantly Wren.

And if he found Wren.

"Tifa, you need to leave." Mayor Berkeley hissed, growing pale as it was clear he had just come to the same conclusion as her. He might not have been her biological father, but he viewed both Foley's as his family and therefore thought of Wren as his granddaughter something he had told Tifa right to her face only moments after Wren had been born. "You need to leave and get to Wren, now."

"I _can't_." She hissed back, tightening her once loose grip on the glass in her hand and it was true she couldn't leave the bar without gaining the attention of Akainu. Sure she was decent enough at Observation Haki and could race back home in record time and warning but this was one the top the ranking members of the marines and she would put money on the fact he had been using his own Observation Haki to try and sense everyone in town and would grow quite suspicious if someone suddenly tried to hide themselves. "If I leave, he _will_ follow."

At least if Akainu was heading into town that meant he probably wouldn't need to check the houses on the outer rim, assuming that he could get the information he needed from a majority of the population. And it would be quite unfortunate for him because almost the whole town loved it when the Red-Haired Pirates showed up as any other rookie crew that was here at the same time always left in a hurry. Not to mention they were always good for business.

And sure, the odd person here and there in town had a small issue with the crew but hopefully they would be smart enough to realise that if they blabbed to Akainu about Wren and herself, that they could also go in for having hid the information from the marines for eight years.

The would be bride scurried off to the woman's washroom to change out of her dress once checking in with Tifa and that was probably for the best as it save her from embarrassing herself by falling on her face as Akainu, in his red suited glory and harshly lined face, pushing open the door to the deathly silent bar, eyes flitting from each of the eight people in the bar including herself, the only sounds coming from the clacking of Akainu's boots as he crossed the threshold.

"I'm looking for the mayor of this town." His voice rang out with a deeply with the slight hint of condensing in the tone. "I was told I could find him here." It was obvious he already knew who the mayor was as he spoke while staring directly at Mayor Berkeley, the man in question without missing a beat placed his own glass down with steady hands.

"I am Mayor Berkeley." He steepled his hands in front of him, eyes locking with Akainu and Tifa would have applauded him if the situation was not so tense. "What can I do for the marines?" He looked up, obviously ignoring the the intimidation game Akainu was trying to play as he came to stand over Mayor Berkeley, green eyes clashing with near black.

"Red Hair." He lit a large cigar, purposely blowing the smoke in both Mayor Berkeley and her faces. "It's known that he frequents this island and it's my job to know why and put a stop to it." His gaze got harder, colder, as he spoke. "It is a crime punishable by death to withhold any information about wanted pirates from the marines."

To his credit, Mayor Berkeley never flinched, "I probably do not know much more than the marines. Red Hair shows up here every now and then, stocks up on supplies and leaves not long after." He took a sip of his drink, finishing it if the empty clank of it against the table was anything to go off of. "Our island is known for having some of the best sake, and he _is_ known as the Wandering Pirate and for the parties he is said to have every night."

That seemed to strike a nerve in the Admiral as a vein visibly popped on his neck as he clenched his jaw in anger at the mayor's words and Tifa tried her best to stifle her snort in her glass, bravely meeting Akainu's eyes with her own as the man heard her reaction, getting some satisfaction from the way the man's eyes widen slightly when meeting her own green ones.

Some days she would kill for a " _normal_ " looking set of eyes but today was not one of them.

"How about yourself?" His question was targeting her that much was obvious as his eyes narrowed. "Have you ever encountered the pirate captain?" He angled his body to stand over top of hers, not knowing that she had faced down men the same size as him without blinking. In hindsight, she was lucky to still be alive as she wasn't a big lady to start with but that was neither here nor there.

"Yes." She hummed with a shrug. "I have lived on this island all my life and have encountered him many times." It was the truth with many details left out but Akainu didn't need to know the nature of her and Shanks' encounters. "It _is_ a small town." Tifa deadpanned out raising an eyebrow as if to state 'are you blind or just stupid?' and luckily she was saved from having to deal with the Admiral any more when a quite nervous bride to be shot her concerned looks, awkwardly holding her dress in her arms. "Now, I have a customer to deal with." She didn't even offer him a parting courtesy, just strode past him with her head held high as she headed in the direction of the younger woman and gathered the dress in her own arms.

This gave her a good excuse to rush - walk so no one would look at her with suspicion - home and dig out her white transponder snail from where ever she had stored it away when Shanks himself had given it to her years ago.

If the Admiral was here today asking questions, then Shanks should have been told yesterday and as much as it pained her to admit it; Wren needed to get off the island and he would know the best place to take her.

* * *

Shanks knows he is both channeling his late captain and pushing his luck being docked at Dawn island in the East Blue, the birth sea of the last Pirate King and the island Garp the Fist has claimed as his own home and he is mostly doing it so that he can imagine the look on the Vice-Admiral's face when word finally reaches him that the newest rookie was brazen enough not only to dock at his home island and town but also stay there for over half a year now.

And if he gets to influence Garp's grandson - one Monkey D. Luffy (and even if he hadn't said he was a D Shanks would have been able to tell by that smile that screamed 'I'm a D, look at me') - into becoming a pirate and pissing the man off, well that's just a bonus.

Though the kid was kinda...cute, in his own way and maybe that was his inner fatherly instincts coming up from not seeing his own Wren in almost a year. Though it pained him to be away from his girl, he knew deep down it was for the best as they had started hearing rumblings of the marines getting suspicious as to why he always seemed to appear at Volca around the same time each year (except for that one time when he got there very late in the year) he decided that maybe a year away - even if it meant missing his daughter's seventh birthday - was for the best.

But, just because he thought the kid was cute in his own way, didn't mean that he didn't want to strangle the hyper boy. Honestly, from what Tifa had told him Wren was never acted like Luffy once in her life. She never tried to steal a necklace off a person's neck like Luffy was trying.

"You can't just grab at other people's belongings, Luffy." Makino does not get enough credit or praise in the world, in Shanks' opinion, for having to deal with not only her regular customers but also his crew and Luffy.

"But I wanna see it." Luffy whines, lips pouting and large brown eyes wide as Shanks holds the small locket in his hand, slowly turning it in a familiar motion he has taken to doing whenever he starts to think about his daughter. "Why can't I see it?" He thumps his head down so his chin hits the counter top and Shanks can't help but chuckle, lifting his own drink to his lips before giving in, slightly.

"Here Luffy." Shanks popped opened his locket, smiling fondly at the picture of himself and a baby Wren on his chest, and angled it so the boy only a few years younger than Wren could see inside. "Pay attention, because this the one of the two most treasured items I possess." The first going without saying was the straw hat Roger had given him all those years ago and he still wore to this day.

"What is it?" He perked up, tilting his head to the side with a quizzical look on his face, crossing his arms as well.

"It's a picture of my little girl, Wren." He can see out of the corner of his eyes Makino jumping slightly at the knowledge that he has a daughter, something he has not mentioned in the near ten months he had been on the island and hadn't planned on it until Luffy drew attention to the locket around his neck. As much as he would love to go around a brag (mostly to Whitebeard because the man always wanted a family and here he was with a blood related daughter) about his kid he knew that any mention of her to the wrong person would spell her death.

Oh, but the moment his little girl set out on her own (he had seen the looks out to the sea when she thought he wasn't watching) and started wreaking havoc on the marines, he would be boasting about everything she did - and the first person he would to go would be Whitebeard just to brag. He was pretty sure the only other person outside his crew and the people on the island who knew about Wren was Mihawk as he wasn't sure but he might have mentioned something about a red haired child of his out there in the world without naming names. And Benn could try to stop him if he wanted but he already had plans to clear wall space to frame each and every bounty poster she would get.

"Why is she so small?"

Makino sighs, pulling both Luffy up into her arms and into a higher seat to give him some food and pulling Shanks' attention to the stunning green haired woman. Though Tifa will always hold a special place in his heart - they both agreed to remain just friends and both encouraged the other to find someone to complete them - Makino has been growing on him and this time he can see himself starting to fall for the motherly woman now it was just the matter of getting her to see past his exterior as a pirate and maybe learning about Wren was that first step.

"That's because it's just a picture, Luffy." She put a plate down in front of the boy, earning a large beaning 'D' shaped smile from the raven haired kid before he started digging into it. "Much like what I have hanging up in the hallways upstairs of you." It was obvious her words fell on deaf ears as Luffy never looked up from his plate or even make any sort of movement to acknowledge he heard her earning a sigh and fond look from the woman before she turned her eyes on Shanks, or to be more exact the picture locket. "How old is she?" Her voice is soft as well as her eyes and Shanks can't help the pride that wells up inside him.

"About eight." He angles himself better bringing himself closer to the barmaid. "Looks like an exact copy of her mother now. Only thing she got from me was the hair." Makino gently grabbed the locket from his hand causing him to have to lean further over the counter since it was still locked around his neck.

"Do you see her often?" He couldn't help but smile at the slight blush the appeared on Makino's cheeks when she finally noticed just how close he had gotten to her, not that he was complaining as it really brought out her ruby eyes, and how to top of his shirt was still unbuttoned giving her a good look down it and at his chest.

He tucked the locket back under his shirt when she handed it back to him, "As much as I can. This is the longest I've been away but the marines were starting to sniff around so I figured we'd sail to the East Blue and draw their attention away from where she is."

"Hey," Luffy's voice piped back up finally clueing back into the conversation at the mention of the marines, "you've got to take me on your next adventure Shanks. I wanna be a pirate, just like you."

Shanks laughed, both at Luffy's spunk at not stopping to try and convince him to take the younger boy out to sea and the fact that Garp's grandson was convinced he wanted to be a pirate and wouldn't that just aggravate the old marine dog.

For sure, Luffy is an annoying brat at times but he grows on you giving enough time. He's kinda a goof - still shocks him to think that they kid stab himself under his eye when they first docked - and is starstruck by him and the stories he would tell about being on the Oro Jackson with Roger but he gives Shanks those big round brown eyes and all he can see is a little girl with red hair and seafoam green eyes looking up at him like he hung the moon and stars.

"Right, as if you could ever be a pirate." He teased with a smile and Shanks could see staying here a bit longer even if his heart clenched at the thought of not seeing his girls sooner but at least he's got another kid to look after in the meantime.

* * *

He doesn't expect the call though.

Sure, a month or two before this moment, or had it been more? The days blurred together, the mountain bandits who poured sake on him and basically mocked him and his crew with their pitiful eight million beri bounty had been a bit of a damper, and yeah sure he had lost a bit of cash he could have gotten by selling the Gomu Gomu no Mi when Luffy ate it but it would be nothing to attack a marine base or an enemy pirate ship to get it back.

But that was long ago and he had stopped getting annoyed over those events after an hour or so.

Already his day had turned out quite different than what he thought it was going to go when he woke up in the morning.

Like usual, he had woken up with a killer hangover, swearing that he would never touch another bottle of alcohol ever again, and slowly sobered up thanks greatly in part to Benn being the only one sober enough to start a pot (see over a dozen) of coffee in preparation for the slow moving hoard that was hung over pirates who could smell the roasted beans.

A few hours later, and a few coffee pots just for himself, and he was ready to head back to Party's Bar for a drink and good conversation. It may have taken a month but he had slowly been growing closer to Makino, and she obviously had been growing closer to him as well, and he could see himself asking her to wait for him.

What he hadn't expected was an all but ghost town in place of the just yesterday bustling town. And a quick investigation in Party's Bar showed the once not immaculate (that was Tifa's house) but not run down building that looked like either a bull had run through or Luffy had attempted to use his new devil fruit powers.

The lack or animal signs and lack of Makino looking after Luffy disproved both of those ideas so that left Shanks with the idea that something else, something worse, had happened in the last twelve hours or so since he left the bar.

A quick look with Observation Haki showed him where he could find everyone.

And that was where he could argue that his day took the turn for the worse.

The mountain bandits with their laughable eight million beri bounty were back and threatening Luffy, something he couldn't stand for both as a pirate and as a father. It was a no brainer that they would teach those fools a lesson, not even having to break a sweat in doing so because they _clearly_ had no idea just who they were pissing off. He did freak out though, he will admit that, when the leader of the mountain bandits had escaped with Luffy, throwing the boy into the sea and almost killing him.

Giving up one of his arms in exchange for Luffy's life seemed like a fair trade.

It was during the time when Roo was wrapping up what was left his arm and he was trying to convince Makino that yes, he was fine, no he wasn't going to die anytime soon, and no it was not her fault he was now missing an arm, that Benn had walked up with both an ashen looking face and the transponder snail with Tifa's seafoam green eyes that he knew something was wrong.

He just hadn't expected the news that call brought with it.

Leaving his hat with Luffy, and a promise to see the boy again, he boarded the Red Force with the rest of his crew, all of them knowing where their next stop was to be as his daughter was in possible danger and he needed to be with her yesterday.

* * *

A/N:

Well, not gonna lie here, I never expected to actually get three chapters of this story done and posted on this site.

Meant to have this out earlier today but you know...life kinda happened.

As always, make sure the rate, review, or what ever it is that people do on this site because your comments help me gain inspiration to continue writing Wren's story.


	4. Mountains (Message to Bears)

The next time Wren see her papa she is almost nine and he is missing both his iconic straw hat and one of his arms.

She doesn't really know how to feel at the sight of her now one armed papa. Mostly, she is shocked because he looks so different from when she last saw him but she is also scared because both the missing straw hat and arm tells her that he has met Luffy and it means that time is moving faster than what she was mentally prepared for.

So all she can do is cry as she hold tight on to her papa and try not to compare his looser hug with one arm to the tighter hugs he used to give her when he had both of his arms.

* * *

The house is quiet, something that hasn't occurred in eight nearly nine years.

They had sent Wren out of the house, making her promise to stay close to the house the boundaries being the edge of the trees that surround the house and under no circumstances was she to step one foot past those lines. And under no circumstances was she to suppress her aura.

He couldn't for sure say but deep in his gut the look his daughter gave him told him that she had a good idea just what they were going to discuss even if Tifa had sworn that she had not uttered a word of what had happened with Akainu all those months ago or the phone call between the two of them.

The clinking of glass against wood drew his eyes up from where he had been staring at the table to look at Tifa, hair half out of the ponytail she had put it in when they had first started talking about options and eyes weary and obviously weighed down with the stress of the situation, as she ran her hand back through her hair letting loose more strands as she let out a sigh. "What are our options?"

He feels like he's aged ten years just stepping foot in the house, "If it had been Garp I wouldn't worry as much." As much as the man was a marine through and through he was also honorable enough for his late captain to hold the old marine dog in high regards so he was willing to do the same. "Just give it a few months and a couple of visits here and there and they would eventually stop. But it's-"

"It's Akainu." Tifa finished for him, trailing off with a quiet voice. "And we both know he won't let this go. He's probably already heard you're back here and is trying to get the clearance to investigate why." Her grip tightened on the glass to the point where her already pale skin turned even whiter. "I _know_ he suspects I know you. And it would be nothing for him to locate me at home and see Wren before I could hide her away somewhere." A crack appeared on the glass, "He'll see her and he won't see a little girl not even nine, he'll just see the blood of a pirate." Her voice wavered as her head bowed so the pink strands of her hair covered her face but Shanks knew from the few drops that appeared on the table that she was crying. "He won't see my little girl, he'll-"

"He'll just see me." He pulled out the one other seat at the table, slumping down into it and taking both of Tifa's small hands into his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles to both try and sooth her and calm himself. He also knew a day like this would come, he just never thought it would be soon into Wren's young life that he would need to take her and hide her somewhere safe. Part of him had always hoped that this day would never come, or when it did it would be when she was older because he may play dumb but he was not stupid by any means and knew that Wren was reaching that point in her life when she was going to need her mother and he hated to have to take her away from Tifa before that time even came.

He could feel guilt well up in his gut. He should have better prepared both of them and himself for this day, should have at least attempted once in the last eight years to convince Tifa it was in Wren's best interest if she would leave with him to the New World, even if he didn't have many islands under his name - or really any at the beginning of Wren's life - he could have at least snuck the two of them into Whitebeard's territory with the old man being none the wiser.

"I'm sorry Tifa." He let her hands go, and ran his fingers through his own hair having to hold back a flinch when he didn't knock off his captain's straw hat momentarily forgetting he had left it with his favourite little anchor back on Dawn Island. "This is my fault."

"Shut up, Shanks." There was no real heat behind her words as one hand came up to wipe at her eyes as she lifted her head to look at him with red rimmed eyes. "It's my fault too. I should have better prepared for this day. Fuck." She left out a breath, "Just, fuck." She stood up, moving only a few feet to the sink and refilling her glass but turning back to face him instead choosing to look out the window at the clear sky.

Shanks couldn't help but agree. They were between a rock and a hard place now and once Akainu got word he had returned to Volca he would scour the entire island, not just stick to the towns this time, to try and find just what - who - made him come back here every year. He would need to leave within the next twenty four hours and Wren would need to come with him, but where could he hide her? She needed somewhere no one would expect to find her, where she could grow up and have a maternal figure around when needed.

There were no islands under his control that he could leave her at - he didn't really 'control' them anyways he just stored a large amount of alcohol on them and smart people knew not to touch those islands unless they were living on them. Any island under both Kaido and Big Mom's controls were thrown out the window and it was bad enough Whitebeard seemed to show up on the island once every year now - luckily after the first incident with Wren meeting that first mate of Newgate Tifa stopped letting her go into town by herself - and he would investigate any reason why he stopped at one of his islands.

He needed a place to hide her, like his little anchor.

No. Not like his anchor. Exactly like his anchor.

He could hide her right under the noses of the marines, right under Garp's nose.

Red hair wasn't uncommon, it wasn't common but it wasn't rare and he had met people with red hair before just not the same shade that he had and that plus the shape her eyes were taking plus the slightly tanned skin were about the only physical features of his that she had. And once people looked at her eyes, they seemed to ignore her hair - or so his crew had told him and it was the same as when he first met Tifa but only years of knowing her had allowed him to focus on other physical features besides her eyes.

It was risky, fuck was it risky, but it was probably the best option they had at this point because a pirate ship was no place to raise his daughter and there was no telling what the marines would do next now that they probably knew he was back at the island. No one would expect the daughter of Red-Haired Shanks to leave his daughter on Garp the Fist's home island in the weakest sea.

Makino would be on the island and could be the motherly figure she needed, and Wren he could entrust her to look after Luffy because he was willing to bet his other arm that the kid would need someone to look after him and who better than his own daughter.

Tifa would hate the idea though, but he knew she would know it the best option at this point.

He rubbed his face with his hand, "I know a place." He caught Tifa stiffening her back at his words from the corner of his eyes. "It's nowhere near the Grand Line or the New World. It's a small village, friendly people, no one really cared that we were there as long as we didn't destroy anything. There are some kids around her age so she won't be lonely. It's a good place for her. Safe." He nodded at the last bit for himself, to reassure himself that yes, this was the best option for Wren even if that meant he may never see her again before she took to the sea - if she took to the sea.

"What's her name?" He jerked his head around, not expecting Tifa to have both responded in that way or to have turned around, one hand crossing over her chest to grip the upper part of the other with a blank look on her face, only her eyes showing the sadness she was feeling. "I'm not stupid; you got the same look on your face that you used to give me when you thought I wasn't looking." She approached her abandoned chair, slowly slinking herself down into it and laying one of her hands on his cheek. "She must be beautiful." She shot him a small smile, not her iconic roguish one but a smile nonetheless.

He couldn't help the small chuckle, "Rivals you the first time I met you."

"I had a broken nose and a black eye." She snorted, her smile stretching just a bit wider as she dropped her hand, a serious look coming over her face. "What's the catch?" She crossed her arms over her chest, sea coloured eyes glowing in the slowly setting light. "There's always a catch so what is it?"

She was going to hate it, probably want to strangle him but definitely hate the idea. "It's ah; it's the home island of Garp-"

Her hands slammed down on the table, knocking over both of their glasses and the salt and pepper shakers, "You want me to send Wren where! Are you fucking brain damaged!" The chair toppled over as she shot up, "You want to send Wren to the home island of a fucking Vice-Admiral! That's just as bad as leaving her here!"

"I'll go."

The only sound in the room was Tifa's glass rolling off the table and shattering as it hit the ground as Wren pushed herself off the archway into the kitchen, coming up to stand between both himself and Tifa, stepping carefully over the glass shards.

"How much did you hear?" Tifa's face was pale, as she hesitantly stepped towards Wren, crouching down to her level and carefully brushing away some of the glass so she didn't cut her bare knees.

Wren just shrugged, shifting her weight from foot to foot, "Enough." She shot him a quick look from the corner of her eyes that he was just able to catch. "I'm not stupid, I know how dangerous it is for me if the marines come back and if papa says he knows a safe place then I'm willing to go there." Her small hand reached out to take a fistful of his overcoat, "I trust him. So should you."

Tifa took in an audible sharp breath and Shanks could feel his own catch in his throat, and she slowly pulled Wren closer to her, tucking her tightly under her chin as he could see tears start down her high cheek bones once again and could see in her eyes that as much as it pained her she was willing to let Wren leave with him. "I don't want to lose you, Wren." Tifa's voice was shaking, and as much as he wanted to crouch down to their level and draw them into his own hug he knew that this was something the two of them needed.

"You're not mama; you're giving me the best chance." Wren's voice was also shaking; now that her face was hidden he knew she was letting her true emotions out. No little girl ever wants to be separated from their mother. "And that's what parents are supposed to do; give their kids the best chance."

If he didn't know better, Shanks would have thought that Wren was speaking from experience but that couldn't be she had to have just heard that during a trip into town and must have stuck with her.

"Shanks." Tifa's voice was hard as well as her eyes as she clutched Wren closer to her as much as she could as their daughter still had yet to let go of his overcoat. "Can you do me a solid and promise me that she will be safe, that nothing bad will happen to her on that island."

He couldn't promise that. He knew she knew that he couldn't promise that but he also knew she needed to hear from the horse's mouth, from his own mouth, that she would be safe.

"She'll be safer than if she stayed here." And that was all he could really promise because who knows what Garp would do if he ever made the connection between Wren and himself.

* * *

They leave the house only a few short hours later when the sun has just set and there are only a few stars in the deep purple sky.

For all that she owns in her small room at the back of the house, she has packed everything she thinks she will need to at least last her until she gets to Dawn Island in two bags; both filled to the brim with clothes (multiple shirts, a few pants and shorts, and various pairs of both underwear and socks) and barely able to hold her notebook, the one with all her notes from the Before and what she knew of this world, and the daggers - four of them with the idea that two were for now and two were for when she got. Older - that her mama gifted to her before she stepped out of the house, and a single picture of her mother holding her when she was only a few months old and had a napkin hat on her head.

She takes no toys, no blankets that kept her warm during the winter seasons, and none of the books that line her shelf back in her room - her old room. The less she takes the better because maybe this was when the original Wren dies, maybe she survived to be eight almost nine but on this trip to Dawn Island didn't make it so they less he takes the better; it leaves less for her papa to mourn over if - when - she doesn't survive the trip.

The heaviest thing she carries is her mama's last words to her; "You may carry your father's blood but the sins of the parent should never be the sins of the child." It was a saying that she had heard even in the Before and it...bothers her that those words now pertain to her and not the strangers around her.

Maybe, maybe if she's lucky and makes the trip to Dawn Island, and somehow finds Ace up in the forest she can drill that into his thick head so maybe, just maybe when - if - the war does happen he won't be as helpless. He will fight to survive because blood doesn't define who you are, your actions do.

She wants to look back, to run back, with every step she takes - one hand in her papa's - away from her home from what is familiar but she knows she can't because once she looks back her resolve will crumble and the tears she is holding back will start up and she won't cry, she _can't_ cry because tears are for the weak and she is _not_ weak, she is the daughter of Red-Haired Shanks one of the four Emperors of the sea, or at least one of the future Emperors, and one of the most feared men by the marines.

"-do you want to stay in it tonight?" The sound of her papa's voice shocks her out of her thoughts as the Red Force looms in the bay, the only ship there and slightly lit with numerous shadowed figures moving on board. "Wren? Do you want to stay with me tonight?" It clicks in her mind that her papa is asking if she wants to stay by herself or with him and as much as she knows she is going to want something familiar, in this case him, she also knows that she wants to be by herself for her inevitable breakdown.

"No." She has to hold back the flinch at how quiet her voice is and knows that her papa has caught just how small she feels. Sure, she had worn a brave face back at the house but that was then and this was now. "I'd like to stay by myself." She wouldn't but she knows she must because she is leaving behind her mother and soon her papa will leave her behind so it's better to get used to not having to rely on him for comfort.

He stops, and crouches down in front of her and she wishes he didn't because at least when they were walking in the direction of the Red Force her mind could focus on that and not on turning tail and running home. "It's okay to be scared about leaving, Wren."

"I'm not scared." She mumbled, not looking up at his face because it was obvious just how much she did not want to leave. She would need to relearn (re-teach?) herself how to hide her emotions better. "Just never been on a boat before." Which is partially true, Wren had never been on a boat - ship her dad would argue back in the Before - but Charlotte had worked on a few the last few years of her life.

"Ship, Songbird." Her papa ruffled her hair out of the single large braid her mama had put it in before they left her behind earning a look of displeasure from Wren as her brows furrowed, eyes narrowed, and lips pouted. "It's a ship, not a boat." He stood back up, grabbing her hand yet again and Wren was happy he was dropping the subject about leaving the island as walking now gave her something else to focus on, mainly not tripping on falling on her face as she stumbled over larger sized rocks.

She can't help but compare the sounds her of papa's foot steps to hers, heavy and slow against light and quick just like her mama - "Dancer's feet," her mama had told her, "Light and quick." - as they walk the gangplank to the top deck of the Red Force and she realizes that there is no turning back now, especially once they reach the top deck and her father is already barking out orders - "Raise the gangplank! Hoist the sails! Weigh anchor! Benn, you're in charge. I'll be in my quarters."

Wren half wants to stay on the deck to watch what the crew does, she can compare it to a dance the way everyone moves in sync with each other, but the other half of her still wants to hide away from the eyes, and there are many eyes, watching her waiting for her to break down because that's what they expect her to do and she is thankful when her papa pulls her gently to follow after him into the depths of the ship.

Shanks started pointing out rooms to her; the galley, kitchen, crew barracks number one, bathroom number one, medical bay, crew barracks number two, bathroom number two, his quarters, and finally-

"Your room." He opens the door to what had to have once been a store room from how small it was and was directly across from his own quarters. Close enough that if anything happened he was right there but still just that far enough away that she was not in the same room or in a room attached to his giving her some privacy.

It's small, as she said, really just big enough for a rope hammock with a simple pillow and blanket, and a small dresser with two shelves barely even two feet long and already that took up just over half the room. What bothered her most was not the size, she was still small - was Charlotte this small when they were the same age? She had a blurry memory of staring at door frame with various lines that had to be doing nothing but listing heights - so a small room didn't bother her, but it was the distinct lack of a window of any size. In her room, her old room, there was a large window that faced the water behind her house and gave off lots of natural light, now the only light she had was from the four lamps hanging in each corner of the room.

Her papa dropped both her bag and her hand, not in that order but reversed, as he stood in the doorway to her room, rubbing the back of his neck with his now free hand. Was he nervous? Wren really couldn't tell and her Observation Haki that she had just starting getting trained enough to 'sense' emotions - her mama could only teach her so much as Observation Haki was not her affinity - was telling her nothing.

"I'll, ah, leave you to get settled." She barely got her head turned in his direction before he got to the door to his own cabin and closed it behind him leaving her alone, on a strange ship, in the middle of the night with only the sounds of the waves crashing against the sides of the Red Force and the muffled noises of the crew trying to get said ship under control so that they themselves could get some shut eye.

A bad wave hit the ship, tilting it back and forth causing Wren to stumble into a wall, bruising her shoulder from the impact and causing the door to sway close with an audible click.

* * *

The first week or so was...well...bad didn't really begin to cover it.

During the days, she put on a brave face and followed either her papa or Benn - because he was really the only responsible adult on the ship - around and tried to stay out of the way of most everyone else, really only stopping to talk with Roo, or Yasopp when they asked how she was settling in.

Nights were the worst for her right now, half the time she wanted to bawl her eyes out and the other half of the time her stomach wanted her to lose whatever was in her stomach and unfortunately her stomach usually was winning the battle and she was just lucky that so far she hadn't needed to make a run to any of the bathrooms in the middle of the night so she was saved that embarrassment.

The second week was only a little better at night. Her stomach had finally settled, as had most of her emotions but every now and then she would get a pang of homesickness and wish she was back with her mama but it would eventually pass leaving her awake for no reason well into the early hours of the morning with felt like only two hours of rest by the time her papa came knocking on the door to her room.

That, thankfully, seemed end by the third week and she finally stopped walking around in a daze - which was quite dangerous on a ship at sea now that she thought about it - and earning concerned looks from everyone she passed because the bags under her eyes had bags and she could finally appreciate being on the open ocean, being free.

"Hey, kiddo." Wren plopped herself down on the deck between Benn and Yasopp, with a book...liberated from her papa's room and now had tucked under her arm. "What do ya have there?" He asked as Wren cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow at the cards laid out on the deck in front of her; one ace of hearts, a ten of clubs, and the four of clubs, and showed the brown leather bound encyclopedia of the world. "Isn't that a bit advanced for someone your age?" He threw in what looked like a thousand beri's.

Wren shrugged, Charlotte had read higher leveled textbooks in college in the Before, so a book this size was nothing, and propped open the book, half focusing on the information about the Florian Triangle (that sounded familiar and she could just barely remember something about Brooke being in a place that had the word triangle in it) and half focusing on the game of poker - it finally clicked in her head when Risk (tall guy, skinny, brown eyes, black hair, glasses on top of his head, had a thing for whips, quite forgettable and the only reason Wren knew his name was because Yasopp said it was his turn) folded - going on in front of her.

"Yeah, kid," Yasopp piped in after putting his tankard back on the deck and wiped away the foam on his lips, "wouldn't you rather read something like Noland the Liar?" He threw in his own raise of two thousand beri's when his turn came back around.

"Read it already." Wren stopped trying to read the book, on trying to focus on the game. There weren't many books for children back at her old house and the story of Noland the Liar had been one of the few there but there was only so many times a person could read a book before they got bored, and Wren couldn't help that feeling in the back of her head anytime she read the story that there was some truth to the tale and maybe she should check her notebook to see if she wrote something down about it. "What are you guys playing?" She picked up the book off her lap and moved it under her so she was sitting on it, giving her an extra three inches in height.

Yasopp and Benn shared a smile over her head; Benn's more dignified in a way she couldn't really describe as Yasopp's had a cunning look in his eyes. "Poker, kid. Wanna learn?" The sniper grinned bigger as Wren nodded, pulling her into his lap with a small squeak in surprise from her at the action. "Once you get the hang of this, we'll teach you how to hustle your dad and won't that be fun." The 'for us' went unspoken but Wren could still hear in it his voice as they were dealt their two cards from the deck and Yasopp went on to explain about rivers and how to judge if your hand was good or not based on said rivers.

* * *

"Wh-what the! Who taught you how to play poker!" Her papa's mouth resembled a fish with the amount of opening and closing it did as he fisted handfuls of his hair and paged at her, mostly at her smiling face as she pulled the pot full of money towards her.

Damn, Yasopp was right.

It was fun hustling her papa.

* * *

A/N:

Not gonna lie, this chapter almost didn't happen for a variety of reasons, most of that stemming from a serious reason in my personal life that killed any inspiration to write.

As always, please review as your comments help me improve my writing and I wish to give you guys the best story that I can.


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